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Newfoundland radio host leaves station after 'disrespect' of woman on Twitter

September 26, 2016 - 1:30pm

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A Newfoundland radio station says it has parted ways with an announcer who told a young woman on Twitter that she should strip.

The woman had invited her followers to watch a live stream of her playing a video game, and Joel North, an announcer for Coast 101.1 in St. John's, responded: "You'd get more viewers if you were stripping."

The woman herself dismissed North, responding Wednesday "and you'd get more followers if you weren't a pig!" But amid a growing backlash, Allan Gidyk, the general manager of Coast 101.1, issued an open letter Saturday to the St. John's Status of Women Council / Women's Centre.

He said the station investigated a complaint about "an inappropriate social media interaction through a personal social media account belonging to a Coast employee." That staffer "is no longer an employee" of the station, Gidyk said without elaborating.

Andrew Bell, the president and owner of Coast Broadcasting, said in the open letter, posted on social media, that the matter "breaches our core values."

"As the owner, I personally apologize to the person who this disrespect has been inflicted upon. We will continue to do our very best to treat people like our neighbours."

The St. John's Status of Women Council / Women's Centre posted a thank you on Twitter to the radio station for its response. "Responses like this create change and help our community heal."

North has since deleted his Twitter account, but an account associated with his "North of NL" podcast said it would "go into detail" on a podcast soon, and said: "Joe was NOT fired."

The podcast's web and Facebook pages said Joel North would provide a "video statement" on the podcast Facebook page Monday evening.